"Afghanistan, rite of passage, military training area, ..." Topic

…sparring partner for the big guys or what?

China as a Peacekeeper in Afghanistan on SCMP

I, and other observers, already implied that elsewhere.
TMP link

But,…
what if they succeed?

Would not be surprised, there are an awful lot of resources that China will want to harvest. If they do I suspect that they will not be as PC as the west when dealing with the "locals",

Tally Ho!

So China would like a go at taming A'stan? Have at it. The Soviets weren't very PC from what I read and they didn't tame it (not that we paid any attention to that) and there are probably more players interested in bringing gas to the fire now than in 1979. And throw in the PRC vs Uighurs history and it makes for some interesting scenarios, maybe changing the nature of their Pakistani friendship?

Graveyard of empires – let them have it.

they will not be as PC as the west when dealing with the "locals"

Yep ! The PRC/CCP are not concerned about CD, like the US, UK, etc. And they have the numbers to play a long game of attrition. If in fact they were "peacekeepers" in A'stan, could we trust them to keep terrorists/jihadis from plotting/executing attacks on Western nations, e.g. Europe, UK, US, etc. ? They might just turn a "Nelson's Eye" … it is not beyond them. I am totally sure of this. As they still see the US, etc., as a threat to their ruling of the World.

Plus A'stan is full of many natural resources, much of yet untapped. link For a number of reasons. The PRC/CCP would think nothing of eliminating large numbers of local forces and jihadi/terrorist groups, e.g. AQ, ISIS, etc. To get to these vast natural resources.

It could be a win for the West if the PRC actually caused very large losses on all the jihadi/terrorist forces in A'stan and maybe even some in Pakistan.
But the Paks have nukes, so that would probably keep them from doing much to the Taliban, etc., there. E.g. the NW Frontier areas, along the Pak border, etc.

Nothing(the UN ? HA ! HA !)would stop them from doing what they want to, to get those natural resources. And turning many places in A'stan into the dark side of the moon.

Killing terrorists/jihadis and their supporters in large numbers is a "good" thing IMO. But the advantage of them controlling A'stan plus gaining all those natural resources may not be to the West's advantage and for the rest of the world. But I'd like to see them turn most/all jihadis and there supporters into a "non-threat". It would not be pretty. But my money is still on the PRC/CCP …

I don't think the PLA would have such an easy time of it. The West would most likely stumble over a protest of some sort at the UN but heavy handed treatment of Afghans would probably be a nice rallying point for anyone looking to kill outsiders of a different religion. Would the rest of the Arab world sit back and let China do what they want, and not funnel money, guns, and followers A'stan way? Russia may not sit quietly with large numbers of PLA troops running around there. I don't see the PLA discriminating much between Jihadis and villagers and that would kick the hornet's nest into high gear. Maybe even some ne'er-do-wells would find bus tickets to the A'stan border from sunny places like Syria and Iraq, courtesy of "Blind Eye's Travel Agency".

I don't think China is interested in getting involved in an occupation of the style the U.S. had. While we were playing at nation building, China was scoping out economic opportunities in A-Stan and making deals. They will come in and pay off the appropriate local warlord if necessary.

Doubt this but anything is possible.

If the Chinese do it, it will probably be like South Sudan where they deploy troops to guard specific bits of revenue generating infrastructure.

I don't think the PLA would have such an easy time of it.

They may not but they will always rely on firepower to inflict losses on the jihadis/terrorist, and anyone else in the area. Again they don't seem to care about CD … Which in that area may be a "strength"/plus ?

Russia may not sit quietly with large numbers of PLA troops running around there.

Putin and the PRC/CCP is are growing a little closer. They may make a deal too. I see no reason for the Russians to go with the PRC in A'stan. The major powers know there is really no profit, etc., in going to war with each other.

Would the rest of the Arab world sit back and let China do what they want,

They have no interest in what the PRC/CCP is doing to it's moslem population. The PRC/CCP may even be paying some of the islamists jihadi/terrorist groups to continue to be a thorn in the USA's side?

If the intel is good, Putin is even giving weapons to the Taliban, etc…

China was scoping out economic opportunities in A-Stan and making deals. They will come in and pay off the appropriate local warlord if necessary.

That is what I was thinking. They care nothing about nation building. Which again IMO is a plus.

The PRC/CCP just make a deal with whoever is in charge and have a A'stn/PRC mining deal. But the problem there is no matter who that side with, e.g. the Taliban, the National Gov't[if there is one left after the US, etc., leaves?], local warlords, etc.

ISIS is there, the Taliban and AQ are their enemies. Last I heard … There will still be bloodshed and most of it will be the locals. They don't seem to care about losses either.

Doubt this but anything is possible.

If the Chinese do it, it will probably be like South Sudan where they deploy troops to guard specific bits of revenue generating infrastructure.

Yes that actually might be a good thing. As long as the jihadis/terrorist keep their jihad there. Again more bloodshed … as long as it stays there. We see no one can fix that.

Plus the natural resources will make the PRC/CCP richer, while the US cuts back on our combat forces.